Machine for loading open end cartons



y 1962 B. J. NlGRELLl ET AL 3,034,270

MACHINE FOR LOADING OPEN END CARTONS Filed July 18, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 DOG 1' O In 7 I W J; 1 T n 1" E,H!I I, O M I! O O i o 0 0 44 67 O 0 0O 0O 4/ '4 OO 00 f 6 O 43 O o o o 59 O 0 N1 53 .Y o 0 7/ INVENTORS BIAG/O J. N/GRELL/ WENDELL E. STANDLEY RICHARD B. W/TTMANN JOSEPH v. FERRARO ATTORNEY May 15, 1962 B. J. NlGRELLl ET AL 3,034,270

MACHINE FOR LOADING OPEN END CARTONS Filed July 18, 1960 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 JOSEPH v. FERRA p a.

ATTORNEY May 15, 1962 NIGRELLI ET AL MACHINE FOR LOADING OPEN END CARTONS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 18. 1960 INVENTORS J. NIGRELL/ BlAG/O WENDELL E. STANDLEY RICHARD B. WITTMANN JOSEPH V. FE

RRARO 3,034,27 MACHINE FOR LOADENG OPEN END CARTONS Biagio J. Nigrelli, Northbrook, Wendell E. Standley, Lake Forest, Richard B. Wittmann, Chicago, and Joseph V.

Ferraro, Niles, IlL, assignors to Ralph W. Johns, Biagio J. Nigrelli, and Robert R. Johns, a ctr-partnership,

doing business as .lohns-Nigrelli-Johns, Chicago, ill.

Filed July 18, 196i Ser. No. 43,398 3 Ciaims. (Cl. 53--48) The present invention relates to carton loading mechanism and more particularly to machines for loading chimed cans or similar articles into open end, sleeve type cartons having chime engaging tabs formed in the carton walls.

An important object of the invention is to provide improved and simplified can loading mechanism comprising fewer parts than have heretofore been employed for cartons having internally formed chime engaging tabs.

Another object of the invention is to provide can loading equipment adapted for the rapid and effective loading of open end cartons having tabs for engaging can chimes, such tabs being of the internal type, that is, cut entirely from within the contour of the carton walls, and hinged to such walls on lines disposed diagonally with respect to the axis of the carton through its open ends.

A further object of the invention is to provide an efficient and rapid loader for open end, double compartment, sleeve type cartons in which the top and bottom walls of each compartment are provided with diagonally hinged tabs located adjacent the open ends of the compartments, and such tabs all being foldable in the same general direction, that is, all tabs being swingable inwardly of the carton toward a particular one of the two side walls and away from the remaining side wall.

A further object of the invention is to provide a loader particularly designed for the placing of rows of cylindrical, chimed cans into open end paperboard cartons having internal, hinged, triangular shaped tabs with outer edges which will assume an inwardly inclined angle when the tabs are displaced and folded inwardly, such tabs also having the outer ends of their hinge lines offset with respect to the center line of the can row, whereby, when a can is forced inwardly of the carton against the inclined edge of an infolded tab, the curved surface of the can chime will have a camming action against the tab to cause further folding of the tab with the result that the tab will be forced substantially flat against its attached wall and will thus be in position to snap in behind the chime when the chime has been moved inward far enough to clear the tab completely.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an efiicient and improved form of can holding and guiding finger or blade, such fingers or blades being supported on a movable member and arranged to enter the carton ends to guide the can ends between top and bottom carton walls as the carton is conveyed and furnish a degree of support for such Walls while other members successively depress or fold the can retaining tabs inwardly of the carton just prior to the movement of the can into the carton, whereby the can, in moving against the infolded tab, will continue its folding movement to swing the tab approximately 180 from its original position, so that the edge of the tab may snap into place behind the inwardly disposed portion of the can chime, thus serving to retain the can from outward movement from the carton.

A still further object of the invention is to provide mechanism to load cartons with rows of three or more cans, utilizing an improved form of can guiding finger or blade to furnish a degree of support to the top and bottom carton walls in which the retaining tabs are formed, and at the same time having one or more center or intercan chimes.

3,634,270 Patented May 15, 1962 ice mediate cans located within the carton which will furnish additional support to the top and bottom walls while the cartons are moved past the tab folding mechanism.

Additional and more specific objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a plan view, with parts broken away, of a machine constructed according to the present invention, showing three lines of cans being loaded into a moving line of open end cartons;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, schematic, perspective view on an enlarged scale, showing the action of the tab folding or pro-breaking fingers and the can holding fingers as the cans begin to enter the cartons;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a filled carton containing six cans in two rows of three cans each;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view, with parts broken away or omitted, showing the carton conveyor and two of the can loading rotors;

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view, showing the arrangement and general construction of the driving means for the various operating parts, some of the parts being shown out of their true positions for greater clarity H of illustration;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view on an enlarged scale, taken along a line transverse to the travel of the carton conveyor showing the relative positions of the upper can guiding fingers and the tab folding or prebreaking fingers just as the cans begin to enter the carton;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 77 of FIG. 6, looking in the direction of the arrows; and

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary, vertical sectional view, some what schematic, taken on line 8-8 of FIG. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows, to illustrate the arrangement of the can conveyor and the finger spreading cams with respect to the first can loading member.

The mechanism disclosed herein is in numerous respects similar to that disclosed in the patent to Biagio J. Nigrelli et al., No. 2,803,932. The cartons may be of the double row type, with or without a full center partition, and two opposed carton walls, referred to for convenience as top and bottom walls, have internally formed tabs to engage and retain the end cans in each row. The tabs are arranged to be folded along diagonal hinge lines and, when swung through the free edges of the tabs are adapted to engage against the interior surfaces of the The tab retaining edges are preferably rounded to conform with the curvature of the chimes.

The cartons are preferably delivered in flat collapsed form and are suitably expanded and delivered to a carton conveyor having a plurality of pockets all constructed in a manner similar to that shown in the above mentioned patent. The expanded, empty cartons are carried on the conveyor with the axes through their open ends disposed transversely to the direction of conveyor travel. Cans are delivered into the open ends of the cartons by rotary can carrying members on which cans are held between thin spring fingers or blades. The ends of the fingers enter the open ends of the cartons and the cans are forced out from between the fingers and into the cartons by suitable mechanism, such as a stationary cam, as the cartons are conveyed.

If the cartons are to receive two rows of three cans each the first can inserted is the can which willremain in the center of the row. This can may be inserted by a rotary loader substantially the same as that shown in the above mentioned patent, and, after its insertion, it is pushed into the interior of the carton by a suitable can centering device as the carton advances. After the cartons have received the initial cans destined for the center of each row they are conveyed past additional rotary devices which load the outside cans. As in the device for loading the first cans, the cans to be located at the ends of the rows are held between spring fingers which swing intothe carton open ends in wiping contact with the inside surfaces of the walls and furnish support for the outer edge portions of the walls as the tabs are being folded out of the plane of the Walls. Thus, while the spring fingers are in wiping engagement with these walls, a tab folder begins to depress the tab. This tab folder is preferably in the. form of a finger on a rotary element which carries the end of the finger along in time with the carton moving on the conveyor. By the time the tab folding finger has swung the tab inward through approximately 90 the can will have been forced inward against the outer edge of the retaining tab. At this point the outer edge of the tab will assume a downward and inward angle and is in a position offset from the center line of the can row. The can then comes into contact with the inwardly inclined edge of the tab adjacent its base and, as the can is forced against the tab edge, such edge is moved in a direction away from the center line of the can row due to the curvature of the can chime at the point where it has engaged the tab edge. The inward motion of the can thus continues the swinging of the tab through the remainder of an arc of approximately 180, thus allowing the can chime to move beyond the tab until the tab reaches a horizontal position and then the tab snaps back to bear against the can end and with the curved tab edge coming to rest within the interior of the can chime in position to engage the chirne and retain the can from outward movement.

As the filled carton continues to advance, the tab folding fingers swing away from the carton walls and likewise the loading fingers swing outwardly of the open carton ends while successive cans are being loaded as just described.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the cartons indicated at are advanced on conveyor 11 past a loading station including a rotary member 12 and cam 13 for delivering the first can into the carton. The carton is then advanced to a can centering station where a star wheel 14 pushes the cans to the center of the carton. The conveyor then carries the cartons to a second loading station at which the can engaging tabs are broken or folded inward by upper and lower pairs of star wheels 15, 15a and 16 and 16a and the cans are delivered into the carton open ends by rotary members 17 and 18 in cooperation with stationary cams 19 and 20. After the cans have moved past the cams 19 and 20 the cans will be securely engaged within the cartons and such filled cartons are removed from the conveyor 11 in any desired manner.

The carton 10 may be constructed substantially as shown in the above mentioned patent, except that the can chime engaging tabs are formed to fold along lines extending diagonally of the axis of the carton through its open ends. As shown in FIG. 3 the tabs 22, 22 and 23, 23 in the respective top wall sections 24 and 25 are toldable along hinge lines 26,26 and 27, 27. The tabs in the bottom wall sections 24a and 25a, indicated at 22a and 23a in FIG. 2, are also foldable along diagonal hinge lines. It is to benoted that all tabs in the top and bottom sections 24 and 24a are swingable inwardly of the carton and toward the center partition, and that all tabs in the top and bottom sections 25 and 25a are swingable inwardly and away from the center partition. Stated in other terms, the tabs are all foldable so they may swing inwardly and in the direction of movement of the cartons as they are advanced on the conveyor 11 with the carton open ends extending laterally of the path movement. Also the outer ends of the tab hinges are oifset to one side of the center lines of the can rows. The position of the ofiset of the ends of the tab hinges 4 is in the direction the cartons are to be moved in being loaded. The utility of this construction of the carton will be made clear as the description of the mechanism proceeds.

The conveyor 11 is supported on suitable longitudinal base frame members 28, 28 and vertical members 29, 29. Shafts 30 and 31, journalled on the opposite ends of the frame, carry respectively spaced pairs of sprockets 32, 32 and 33, 33 over which are arranged a plurality of pocket-forming members 34, 34 connected at their lateral edges by short link elements 35, 35. Suitable guide rails, not shown, may be employed to support the linked, pocket-forming members between the sprockets and keep them in a fixed path, all as shown in a more detailed manner in the above mentioned patent.

The bottom portions of the pocket members are spaced at small distance apart to receive the carton handles 26, and the side walls of the carton are held between the central, upstanding portions 36, 36 of adjacent pocket members. No means for expanding collapsed cartons has been shown nor is any mechanism shown for delivering expanded cartons in position on the conveyor 11. If desired, the conveyor arrangement may be modified to deliver expanded cartons into position between the pocket members, all as shown in the above mentioned patent. For the purpose of the present description it may be understood that the cartons, in expanded condition, will be delivered in proper position at the left hand end of the machine, as viewed in FIG. 4, either by suit able mechanical devices or by hand. As the cartons, when provided with handles, are loaded in inverted position on the conveyor, the normal positions of top and bottom walls are reversed. For simplicity of description the upper wall may be referred to as the top and the lower wall as the bottom, irrespective of the location of the handle.

Mechanism is provided for delivering first a single can to each compartment of the carton and then moving each of such cans to a central position within the carton where they will be clear of the can chime engaging tabs. For this purpose the rotary member 12 is mounted on a vertical shaft 39 rotatable in a bearing 40 on frame member 28. This rotary member is essentially like the rotary member of the first loading station of the above mentioned patent, except that it rotates in a horizontal instead of a vertical plane. The member 12 comprises a pair of spaced disks or plates 41 and 42 secured to the shaft 39. Each of the plates is formed with a plurality of rounded notches in its periphery. The spacing of the plates is such that the notched portions in the plates will contact the cans inwardly of their chimes. The notches, indicated at 43 and 44, are formed in pairs spaced closely so that the cans held in such pairs are substantially in contact. Between the pairs of notches are projecting portions 45 having a rounded surface and extending sutficiently around the can in the notch 44 to assist in propelling the cans into the open ends of the cartons.

Above and below the respective plates 41 and 42 are plates 47 and 48 which can-engaging spring fingers 49, 49 and 50, 50 are respectively attached, extending radially outward. One set of spring fingers 49 and 50 is located at each pair of notches in the plates 41 and 42. The spring fingers are tensioned to move toward each other to cause them to grip the opposite ends of cans held in the notches.

The cans are brought to the rotary member 12 on a suitably drive-n conveyor 52, see FIG. 1, moving parallel to the carton conveyor 11, but in the opposite direction. The conveyor 52 preferably has a width sufficient to corivey two rows of upright cans side by side so that the cans in one row may be delivered to the rotary member 12 and cans in the other row may be delivered to the rotary member 17. The conveyor 52 preferably comprises a. series of narrow, interconnected plates, the conveyor construction being conventional and generally referred to as a flat top chain conveyor. An edge portion of the conveyor is arranged to travel in between the lower spring fingers 50 and the lower notched plate 42. Guide bars 53 and 54 supported over the conveyor serve to guide one row of cans along a path tangential to the rotary member 12. The cans are thus brought into the individual sets of aligned notches in the plates 41 and 42 and into position between the spring fingers at each set of notches.

In order to allow the cans to move readily into place between the spring fingers there are provided upper and lower cam or guide bars 55 and 56, similar in principle to the finger spreading cam plates in the above mentioned patent. The lower bar 56 is secured on suitable bracket supports, not shown, and extends along an are below the edge portion of the conveyor 52, see FIGS. 1 and 8, with its ends projecting laterally beyond the edge of the conveyor. The lower fingers thus engage the upwardly curved or inclined end portion of the guide bar 56 and as they move therealong they will be deflected downward, clear of the edge of the conveyor and are guided below the conveyor until the fingers have been rotated to a position where they have moved out beyond the edge of the conveyor. At this point the lower fingers move off the guide bar 56 and move up into supporting contact with the lower end of the can positioned in the aligned notches. In certain instances, where the spring fingers are not sufficiently stifi to maintain the can in the desired position, an arcuate supporting bar or rail may be arranged below the fingers, extending from the edge of conveyor 52 to a point near the edge of conveyor 11. Such supporting rail may also function to gide the end of the spring finger into the carton in which the can is to be loaded.

The upper guide bar 55 is secured on suitable bracket supports, not shown. This bar extends from a point outside the can path to a point at which the can is in proper position within a set of aligned notches. Thus each upper spring finger, as it moves onto the guide bar 55, is deflected upward out of the path of the can until the can is within the notches, at which time the finger will move off the bar and engage the can end. If desired, the bar 55 may be extended so that its end is adjacent the conveyor 11 and the upper spring fingers wil be out of contact with the can ends until a point where the cans are almost ready to enter the carton ends.

With the cans held in the notches they move clock wise, as viewed in FIG. -1, in time with the travel of the conveyor 11, and are brought into positions aligned with the carton open ends. At a suitable point the cans come into contact with the can member 13 held rigidly in place between the notched plates 41 and 42 by rods 57, 57, and are gradually moved radially out of the notches while slidably held between the spring fingers as the cans enter the open end of the carton.

The inclined surface of cam member 13 terminates at a point close to the path of the conveyor pocket members and thus the cans are moved almost completely into the carton by the cam 13. These cans are then shifted to a central point within the cartons by the star wheel 14. This wheel preferably comprises upper and lower disks 58, 58 fixed to a shaft 59 journalled in a bearing 60 fixed on the base frame. The disks 58 have extended fingers 61, 61 grouped in angularly spaced pairs so that the fingers of each pair may enter the individual compartments of the cartons held on the conveyor. The angular spacing of the pairs is designed to compensate for the spacing of the cartons by the upright portions 36 of the pocket members.

By rotating the star wheel 14 in time with the conveyor 11, every can delivered into the cartons on the conveyor will be moved to a central position inside the carton. The positioning of the first loaded cans centrally of the carton assists in the support of the top and bottom panels of the cartons during the process of folding 6 or pre-breaking the can retaining tabs. This will be brought out in detail as the description proceeds.

The mechanism for loading the outer cans into the cartons and for folding the retaining tabs comprises the two rotary members 17 and 18 operating in timed relation with the upper and lower pairs of star wheels 15, 15a and 16, 16a. Except for the driving means, both sides of the machine are alike. Accordingly, for simplicity, detailed description will be limited to rotary member 17 and the upper and lower star wheels 15 and 16 which operate in conjunction with the member 17.

In general, the rotary member 17 has the same construction as the rotary member 12. A vertical shaft 65 is journalled at 65 on the base frame and carries at its upper end a pair of spaced disks or plates 67 and 68 fixed to rotate with such shaft. Each plate is formed with notches in its periphery to receive cans. The notches, indicated at '69 and 70, are formed in pairs and between such pairs are projecting portions 71 extending sufiiciently around the can in the notch 70 to assist in propelling the cans into the open ends of the cartons.

Above and below the respective plates 67 and 68 are plates 73 and 74 to which can-engaging spring fingers 75, 75 and 76, 76 are respectively attached, extending radially outward. One set of spring fingers 75 and 76 is located at each pair of notches in the plates 67 and 68. The spring fingers are tensioned to move toward each other to grip the opposite ends of cans held in the notches.

The cans are brought to the rotary member 17 on conveyor 52 between guide bars 79 and 86. In order to allow the cans to move readily into place between the spring fingers 75 and 76 there are provided upper and lower cam or guide bars 81 and 82 similar in function and arrangement to the bars 55 and 56. Accordingly, as the cans move into the notches in the plates 67 and 6-8, the spring fingers are spread apart. The upper spring fingers 75 will be released to contact the cans after the cans are in position within the notches and in any event just before the cans reach the point where they are to be guided into the cartons. The lower spring fingers will be deflected downward and guided clear of the conveyor until the fingers have been rotated beyond the edge of the conveyor at which time they will be released to engage the lower ends of the individual cans.

With the cans held in the notches of the member 17, they move clockwise, as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 2, in time with the travel of the conveyor 11, and are brought into positions aligned with the carton open ends. At a suitable point the cans come into contact with the stationary cam member 19, held rigidly in place between the notched plates 67 and 68 by rods 85, 85, and are gradually moved radially out of the notches while slidably held between the opposed spring fingers 75 and 76 as the cans enter the open end of the carton. The end portions of the spring fingers preferably are formed with narrow extended parts on the leading edges of the fingers. These parts, indicated at 75a on fingers 75, and at 76a on fingers 76, are preferably bent or curved toward each other sufiiciently to assure that they will enter the carton and engage the inside surfaces of the respective top and bottom wall sections.

It is to be understood that the rotary member 18 will receive cans from a conveyor similar to conveyor 52 except that it may, if desired, be narrower due to the fact that it will carry only a single line of cans. The member 18 is provided with cam plates for controlling the spring fingers which are similar to the cam plates for the rotary members 12 and 17. It is to be noted that the member 1 8 necessarily rotates in a direction opposite to mem ber 17.

The tab pre-breaking or folding mechanism on one side of the conveyor 11 comprises upper star wheel 15 and lower star wheel 16 operating in conjunction with the rotary member 17. Star wheels 15a and 16a on the opposite side of the conveyor operate in conjunction with the rotary member 18. The upper star wheels and 15:: are fixed on a hor zontal shaft 87 which is suitably journalled in vertical frame members, one of which is indicated at 29:: in FIG. 4. Thelower star wheels 16 and 16a are fixed on a horizontal shaft 58 journalled at its ends in hearings on the horizontal frame members 23. As will be later described, the driving means for the star wheels 15, 15a, 16 and 16a produce rotation of these wheels in exact synchronism with the travel of conveyor and the rotation of the rotary members 17 and 18. As viewed in FIG. 5, the upper wheels 15 and 15a rotate counter-clockwise and the lower wheels 16 and 16a rotate clockwise.

Referring to star wheel 15 as typical of all the star wheels, a disk or plate 89'having an attached collar 90 is fixed to rotate with the shaft 87. Secured on the plate *89 are a number of pairs of rigid fingers 91, 91, extending radially of the plate. The fingers of each pair are designed to engage the individual tabs in the top carton walls. The spacing between the pairs of fingers conforms to the spacing of the cartons'on the conveyor which, as previously pointed out, are separated by the thicknessof the upright parts 36 of the pocket members.

Referring now in particular to FIGS; 2, 6 and 7 showing the correlation between the star wheel fingers 91 and the spring fingers 75 of the rotary member 17, the star wheel 15 is fixed upon its shaft in the proper angular position so that the end of leading finger 91 of each pair of fingers will reach the top wall level of the carton on conveyor 11 at the exact moment that the tab in the leading carton wall section is in position beneath the finger. Continued travel of the carton and rotation of the finger will cause the finger to move down into the carton and will force the tab to swing inward along its hinge connection with the carton wall section until a point is reached at which the tab will assume a position substantially at right angles to its attached wall. The trailing finger of each pair of fingers will engage and depress the tab in the trailing wall section in exactly the same manner, because both tabs are formed so as to swing forwardly in the direction of travel of the conveyor. As the carton passes along beneath the star wheel the fingers will swing upward and out of the tab opening.

The cut and creased internal tabs, as herein disclosed, formed in folding paperboard of adequate strength to re tain cans offer a substantial amount of resistance to being displaced. It is therefore desirable to support the walls in which the tabs are located while preliminary folding is accomplished. Part of the support is furnished by the first can loaded into the carton and moved to its mid-portion as above described. Additional support is furnished by the ends of the spring fingers which guide the end cans into the cartons. Accordingly, the rotary members which carry the end cans are so positioned on their shafts that, just prior to the rotation of a finger 91 into depressing contact against a tab, the upper and lower spring fingers 75 and 76 will enter the carton in wiping engagement with the end portions of the upper and lower wall sections. Due to the support afforded by the middle can and by the ends of the spring fingers, the upper and lower wall sections are kept from any appreciable amount of flexing or other distortion while the tabs are being displaced out of the plane of their walls. See FIGS. 6 and 7.

As best shown in FIG. 7 the movement of the spring fingers is preferably such that the narrow, curved portion of the fingers will move past the tab hinge ahead of the inwardly swinging tab so no interference will result. The tips of the narrow extended portion on the spring fingers may be proportioned to swing close to the surface of the tab folding fingers and, if desired, the sides of the tab folding fingers may be partially cut away near their ends as shown in FIGS. 2 and 6. The major portion of the ends of the spring fingers is designed to travel in and out of the carton, clear of the tab as shown in FIG. 7.

7 The movement of the cans into the carton is timed in such manner that the can chimes will come into con tact with the free outer edge of the tab after the tab has been swung inward and before the tab folding finger swings out of the tab opening. Preferably the can is moved inward against the edges of the upper and lower tabs a short interval before the tab folding finger swings out of the tab opening. This will assure that the inwardly moving can will not engage the finger.

'As stated above .in the description of the carton, the outer end of the tab hinge is located in a position offset from the center line of the can row. Thus, when the can 'moves inward against the tab, the point of engagement is on a line spaced slightly forward of the path of the cylindrical center of the can. At the point of contact with the tab edge there is enough curvature to urge the tab forwardly of the direction of travel. Therefore, as the can moves into place, the tab is folded further in the direction in which it is started by the tab finger until the tab is swung through an arc of substantially 180. At this point the can has reached the normal limit of its movement and the can chime passes beyond the inner, curved edge of the tab whereupon the tab edge will snap away from its wall and against the recessed can end, so that the tab edge will be in position to engage the inside surface of the can chime to retain the can in the carton.

It is to be noted that both outer cans will move inwardly at the same time and will come into locking engagement with tabs substantially at the same instant. Termination of the inward movement of the cans is readily controlled by proper positioning of the stationary cam members 19 and 20 on the opposite sides of conveyor 11.

In addition to the feature of locating the outer ends of the tab hinges at one side of the center line of the can as it moves into the carton, specifically on the side toward which the tab must swing, advantage is taken of the diagonal hinging of the tab. By cutting the outer tab edge generally parallel with the adjacent outer edge of its supporting wall this tab edge, as it swings inwardly away from its wall, assumes an increasingly inclined angle to the vertical. This means that the can chime, when forced against the tab edge near its hinge, is exerting pressure against an inclined element rather than a vertical one. Thus, the curvature of the can on the leading side of its center of lateral movement into the carton and the inclination of the tab edge operate together in the successful swinging of'the tab through the remainder of its 180 arc of movement, following its initial displacement produced by the tab folding fingers.

As above indicated, the construction and operation of tab-folding star wheels 15a, 16 and 16a is the same as described in connection with the star wheel 15. Star wheels 16 and 16a, of course, rotate oppositely to the wheels 15 and 15a.

The various operating parts are driven from a motor 94 through a gear box having a projecting shaft carrying a sprocket 95 over which a chain 96 passes. This chain passes also around a sprocket 97 on shaft 31 on which the conveyor sprockets 33, 33 are'mounted. The vertical shafts 65 and 65a which carry the rotary loading members 17 and 18 are driven in opposite directions from shaft 98 through suitable gearing in gear housings 99 and 99a. The shaft 98 has a sprocket 100 over which a chain 101 passes which is driven from sprocket 102 on the conveyor shaft 31. Chain 101 also passes over a sprocket 103 fixed on shaft 88 which carries the lower star wheels 16 and 16a,

The first rotary loading member 12 and can centering star wheel 14 are suitably driven from the shaft 65. A sprocket 104 on this shaft has a sprocket chain 105 passing thereover which also passes over sprockets 106 and 107 on the respective shafts 39 and 59 of the loading member 12 and can centering wheel 14. The shaft 87 has a gear 109 at its end which meshes with a pinion 110 carried on a stub shaft 111. This stub shaft has a sprocket fixed thereon which is driven by a chain 112 passing over idler sprockets and around a sprocket 113 fixed on the driven shaft 31 which carries the conveyor sprockets 33. Through the driving mechanism just described the star wheels 15, 15a are driven in the proper timed relaion with the conveyor and with the star wheels 16, 16a and in the opposite direction to these latter star wheels. The illustration of the driving mechanism is not intended to show the exact gear ratios which will operate the various parts in the required synchronism, this being obviously within the abilities of a skilled mechanic without requiring the exercise of invention.

From the foregoing it is apparent that the present invention provides a relatively simple and compact loading machine to fill rows of cans into open end cartons formed with internal type can chime engaging tabs. By the use of tab folding fingers acting in close cooperation with the spring fingers for guiding cans into the open carton ends, preliminary tab folding is effected by the fold ing fingers and the can which is to be held by the tab acts immediately after the action of the folding finger to continue the swinging of the tab to its locking position. The concentration of the tab folding and can insertion in one combined operation tends to shorten the space required for the machine and materially reduces the cost of manufacture as fewer parts are required than have been employed heretofore.

While the present description sets forth a preferred embodiment of the invention, numerous changes may be made in the construction without departing from the spirit of the invention, and it is therefore desired that the present embodiment be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, reference being had to the appended claims rather than to the foregoing description to indicate the scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. A machine for placing rows of chimed cans into open end, sleeve type cartons of resilient paperboard having opposed walls in which can-chime engaging tabs are formed entirely within the wall contour by cutting and creasing, such tabs being spaced inward from the outer edge of their containing walls to leave an appreciable margin of material between the tab and the adjacent wall edge, the machine comprising, in combination, a conveyor adapted to receive and carry erected cartons, can conveying and delivery means operable in timed relation with the conveyor for delivering a chimed can into the open end of the carton on the conveyor with the can ends disposed adjacent to the opposed walls carrying the tabs, means operable in timed relation with the conveyor for displacing the tabs on the opposed walls and swinging them inwardly prior to the inward movement of a can past the margin between the area from which the tab is formed and the outer edge of the tab supporting wall, the can delivery means comprising a rotary member having axially spaced, resilient, can-holding and carton-wall-supporting fingers projecting therefrom adapted to have their respective free ends move into and out of the open end of the carton in supporting relation to the opposed tab-carrying walls while a can is held between such fingers the movement of the fingers of the rotary member being timed with the tab displacing and swinging means, whereby the ends of the fingers move in supporting relation to the marginal portions of the tab-carrying walls while the tab displacing means is acting and before the can between the fingers enters the carton.

2. A machine as defined in claim 1, in which the tab displacing means comprises a movable finger element.

3. A machine as defined in claim 1, in which each resilient finger has a narrow, radially projecting portion on its leading edge, curved toward the interior of the carton to assure entry of such resilient finger into interior wiping engagement with the carton walls.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,662,356 Svvafliord Dec. 15, 1953 2,739,430 Griswold Mar. 27, 1956 2,770,935 Nigrelli Nov. 20, 1956 2,803,932 Nigrelli Aug. 27, 1957 

